Lady Spartans fall to South Sevier in opening game

James L. Davis

In the first game of the season the Lady Spartans Basketball team fell to South Sevier 45-56 in non-region play Nov. 20.

“We struggled a little bit offensively. We couldn’t make a basket,” said Coach Steven Gordon.

Down by 2 at the end of the first quarter, the Spartans went into the half after a strong second quarter with a 4 point lead. Coming into the second half with a score of 22-18, South Sevier rallied in the third and stole the lead away as they scored 15 to Emery’s 7, leaving the Spartans to start the fourth quarter down 29-33. In the fourth Coach Gardner said the Spartans were down by only 4 with a minute left in the game.

“We had to foul and they made their foul shots,” he said.

South Sevier scored 23 points to the Spartans 16 in the fourth, giving them the game.
High scorer for the Spartans in their first game of the season was junior Jodi Robertson, who drained three 3-pointers and ended the game with 17 points, followed by senior Michonne Robertson with 6 points; sophomore Tiffany Tuttle with 6; senior Meagan Pearson with 5; junior Frankie Komar with 3; senior Caitlin Hansen with 3; junior Sierra Bridgewater with 2; sophomore Jenni Stinson with 2; and junior Lacey Montgomery with 1.

The Lady Spartans will take on North Sevier in Salina on Nov. 27 and will battle Canyon View in their first home game on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.

Wrestling team pins Grand County in first meet of the season

James L. Davis

The Emery Spartan Wrestling team hit the mat for its first meet on Nov. 20, pinning rival Grand County 51-5 at the Spartan Center.

“We’ve got a tough team this year. We have a lot of talent,” said coach Buck Taylor.

With a schedule heavy on home meets, Taylor said his team will be competitive. Thirty wrestlers tried out for the team at the beginning of the season and the team hit the mats with 22 wrestlers, but Taylor said he is still short in some weight classes.

“I’m still looking for a 103 pounder,” he said.

Taylor took over the wrestling program for the high school last year and in his second year he said the wrestling program is not as healthy as he would like it to be.

“It’s not real healthy. There’s not been a lot of interest but with the little league program we’ve got going we hope interest will grow.”

As he takes the Spartans into his second season, Taylor said his nervousness as a coach has eased a little, but is still there.

“I’m a little bit more comfortable, but I’m still nervous. I was a nervous wreck tonight,” he said.

While he may have been nervous, his enthusiasm for the sport keeps his wrestlers giving their best. By the end of the meet the coach’s voice was down to a raspy whisper after an evening of screaming for his team.

The wrestling team performed well in its first meet and the Spartan victory came after twice a day practices for two weeks to prepare.

“Now if everyone will get down to where they’re supposed to be on their weight,” Taylor said. “Everyone wrestled a little heavy tonight.”

Next up for the Spartans is a meet against Altamont at home on Nov. 28.

Runners (and walkers) gather for annual Turkey Trot

Vallyn Bernard

For only $1 everyone who ran or walked the race received a T-shirt. Talk about a sweet deal, I couldn’t pass up giving a buck for mine, especially since at the Heritage Days race it cost everyone $20 for their T-shirt.

Now, of course, the grand prize for the Turkey Trot was, you guessed it, a frozen turkey. I personally, thought the organizers, Mark Justice, Cathy Cowley, and Cheryl Tucker, couldn’t have come up with a more appropriate prize, since the temperature was in the teens at race time. Thankfully, there was no wind.

As the older racers were warming up, the youth raced around the block the city park and elementary school are on. Daryl Guymon smoked the competition crossing the finish line well ahead of everyone else. However, there were some very small runners, who finished a long ways in front of the pack, who I believe will make it pretty tough on Daryl to defend his crown next year.

No doubt the bigger boys and girls were extremely happy when the 5K finally started. I’m not joking when I say it was cold. Sock hat, gloves, and warm sweats were plentiful, although there was a few who were brave enough to wear shorts. Still not sure if brave is the right word to be using here. Anyway, everyone was anxious to work up a sweat to warm things up.

Pretty much out of the gate it looked like an Emery High cross-country meet, with so many high school runners out in front of the crowd. I’m sure the high school distance coaches would love to see their team members leading a regional meet like they were at the Turkey Trot. First place was a tie between two seniors on the Spartans cross-country team. Many felt they deserved the turkey as everyone watched them jog to victory over the 30, 40, 50, and 60-year-old runners. Obviously, this is not a serious race, but one of fun, and friendship.

Remember, this is a run – walk race, so several people were enjoying a very cool 5K-morning walk. Many others were jogging some, supplemented with liberal amounts of walking. As I observed from the sidelines, a lot of visiting was going on during the first half of the race. However, on the way back into Huntington to the finish line there was much more heavy breathing going on than talking. Everyone was excited to reach the last block, and finally cross the line. A $1 T-shirt well earned.
If you’ve been paying attention while reading this article, you will remember me saying that I paid for my T-shirt, and then watched from the sidelines. Assigned to cover the story I was also there to be part of the story, so obviously I was trying to take a few during the race. Therefore, everyone was running or walking while I was taking pictures. No worries, I love to take pictures, but the problem was I had paid for a Turkey Trot T-shirt. I didn’t buy my silver wings, I earned them, and something in the back of my head was telling me I needed to earn my Turkey Trot T-shirt.

During the past year I’ve worked really hard to lose some weight, and have been fairly successful. Paying close attention to what I eat, and exercise combined with being accountable have helped me to lose substantial weight. A couple of the sweat programs I’ve gotten involved with have been racquetball, and early morning basketball. Now at one point in my life I was a distance runner, although it’s actually hard for me to remember that far back. Still, I thought maybe I should try adding some light jogging to my exercise routine.

We’ve all heard moderation in all things, and I believe there is great wisdom in that statement. My running plan was simple. While out walking I would jog one linear pole and then walk one. Sounded good to me, since the last time I actually did any serious running was almost 30 years ago. On my first go round I jogged-walked four linear poles. Over the weeks I worked up to where I was jogging five linear poles and walking one nine times at least twice a week. Then I made the big step and jogged one mile straight. Talk about feeling like I was the cat’s meow, I thought Boston Marathon here I come. Not really, I always think about what happened to the first marathon runner after he finished running back to Athens…he died. Still, I was jogging again, and actually getting faster each time.

As I stood around the finish line watching the runners, and eventually the walkers, finish, I couldn’t help but think about my $1 Turkey Trot T-shirt in my vehicle. I had bought it, but not earned it like everyone around me. No problem, like most of us, I have the gift of being able to justify everything I do. I was here on assignment for the paper and to watch a couple of my sons run. That’s good enough to deserve a T-shirt. It’s Thanksgiving morning, I didn’t get to sleep in, and it’s butt cold. Those acts alone should be enough to qualify me for a $1 T-shirt. Besides, because of out of town trips, and circumstances beyond my control, I hadn’t exercised in more than three weeks. To make it even worse I had been eating way too high on the hog during this time. I had more than enough excuses.

Still I had watched many friends and neighbors and my two sons earn their T-shirt. Both my sons hadn’t raced in a very long time, but gave it their all this morning. The one who came in fourth place was out of site in the park trying to throw his toenails up, with his brother standing near by wanting to do the same. Seeing all this happen stirred something deep inside me. Now I’ve never been accused of being the most intelligent person in the world, so I quietly walked over to my vehicle and put away my camera. I then went over to my sons and told them I was off to do the 5K.

Since I had been standing in the cold for such a long time I felt it would be smart to walk the first half to warm my muscles up, and then jog back to town. Now I had come dressed for the part in my sweats with a scarf and gloves. Still as I headed out of Huntington, I was surprised at how cold it still was walking along, and alone. Just before I reached the halfway point my sons showed up to encourage me on, and by this time I was warming up some.

As I turned to head back into town, I thought 1.5 miles, I can jog that no problem. Here I reference the statement about not being the smartest of the litter. With no one looking I headed for the first linear pole. No worries, I will only jog one pole at a time. When I finally reached the first street in Huntington there were my sons and wife waiting for me. OK, I was totally shot, and walking to the finish line would be a smart thing. However, one of my boys trotted over to me and announced he would finish the race with me. Obviously, he had no idea of what I was thinking. No longer alone, I ended my first 5K by sprinting across the finish line with only my family cheering me on. I had earned my $1 Turkey Trot T-shirt.

Later that day the muscles in my legs tightened up so badly I couldn’t walk. I ate the wonderful feast my wife prepared and then went straight to bed in so much pain that I had nothing good to say about those who put together a Turkey Trot. Pain is temporary. The feeling of having been in the race, and finishing it, not watching from the sidelines, will last forever. A friend of mine has in his home a saying, “No one gets out of this game alive, so you might as well be on the field,” or in this case, the race.

No matter what tomorrow brings, all of us who braved the cold this Thanksgiving morning in Huntington will always be Turkey Trotters.